Warning: Excede: A new equine antibiotic

The FDA recently (Feb. 2010) approved a new long-lasting injectible antibiotic for horses called Excede. I have heard of problems with this (diarrhea, acid reflux and death). You may wish to do some homework before using it on your horse.

Extreme caution on Excede!!
My twenty five year quarter horse was given 16cc of Excede six days ago and seemed fine until about the second day, started with loose stools and some swelling of his neck. I refused to give second dose after four days and soooo glad I did as of today the swelling in neck has now gotten so bad that both sides are huge and very hard all the way down to his chest area. The time release of the drug is the scariest part due to the length of time in the system so if a reaction happens it takes days to peak and up to eighteen days to clear out. I truly believe my horse would have died if I would have given the second dose. I have always been leary of new drugs and will always follow my gut instinct from now on. Hope this helps anyone else that might have to make the decision.

I lost my 2 y/o gypsy filly to this drug. She was treated with Excede and developed projectile stools and a 106.2 fever on the third day after the injection. We rushed her to the main surgical hospital in New Jersey where they tried to stabilize her. She died April 28 after surgery from cardiac arrest due to the endotoxemia produced by her necrotic large intestine. We were there with her during her surgery and were permitted to see the damage to her colon but hoped she could survive the surgery because she was a big, healthy 2 y/o baby. The treating veterinarian filed a claim with Pfizer stating that the drug side effects caused her death. We are heartbroken. By the time the side effects become apparent d/t the long acting nature of this drug, it is too late and not easy to reverse. This drug is dangerous and should be used with extreme caution.

I have a Quarter horse mare who contracted a very nasty combination of bacterial and viral lung infection. She was treated at the ranch first with standard antibiotics (e.g., Uniprim) then Baytril but still ran fevers of up to 106 with rapid breathing (up to 76 breaths per minute). She was transferred by my veterinarian, Doug Davenport, to Equine Medical Center of Ocala where she underwent various procedures to identify the cause of her illness. She was subsequently put on a cocktail of drugs as well as several procedures done including lung and liver biopsies. Her fever was under control and breathing dropped to 30 bpm so we brought her home. After a few days, the fever began to come back so Dr. Davenport and I decided to try Excede. The only issue I had with it was the fact that it is one shot that last several days. This means that if she had an allergic reaction, we could not stop the treatment. Fortunately, she did respond favorably and is still recovering. Her illness was never given a name, but somehow she was exposed to and contracted several very nasty bugs that worked in combination to cause her illness. Her recovery is slow and steady, but the Excede seemed to be the final "kick start" with no ill effects. I would use it again, but only after careful consideration of all options.

For those that have had bad expeariance with this, I would consider banding together and filing a class action law suit. Or atleast getting one started now. Personally I'm sticking to my herbs and holistic/homeopathic treatments. Less chance of this kind of thing doing it the natural way.

One can easily cause issues, or allow them to worsen, with holistic or homeopathic treatments. I'm all for them when possible, but at some point a horse WILL die without modern medicine, including antibiotics.

One can easily cause issues, or allow them to worsen, with holistic or homeopathic treatments. I'm all for them when possible, but at some point a horse WILL die without modern medicine, including antibiotics.

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When not properly used, yes issues can be caused. I've done fine treating everything with holistic or homeopathich treamtents, even with my family. With out the interfearance or side effects of modern medicine. And most "modern" or "traditional" medicines are based on holistic or homeopathics from the beginning and then chemically altered. There are herbs that are in exsistance that are just as effective if not sometimes more effective as antibiotics than modern medicine. How ever there are some cases/instances when modern antibiotics are nessary. But, then I have seen horses remain healthy their entire lives, including showing etc and been raise on 100% homeopathic and natural methods. And never been sick. SO no a horse wont die if done completely without modern medicine. Think about all the horses that were owned by Native Americans or for thousends of years that exsisted just fine with out the shots and such.

For Example, Wild Cultivated Oregano, in the right amount and must be wild cultivated. Can be almost as strong as Morphine with it's anti-inflammatory and pain killing abilities.